Winter Storms, Deadly Twisters Pound Nation

Dec. 16, 2000 -- As the nation’s midsection faced subzero wind chills andanother bout of snowfall, tornadoes bore down on Alabama today, killing at least 10 and injuring dozens.

A band of twisters ripped acrossAlabama, the deadliest of them killing 10 people as it torethrough a Tuscaloosa trailer park and an upscale neighborhoodnearby.

Multiple Tornadoes

Tornadoes also struck three far-flung locales, tearing apartscores of homes in Geneva, at the southern edge of the state, andin rural Etowah and Limestone counties in the north.

The worst devastation was in a sprawling trailer park just southof Tuscaloosa, where most of the victims were found. Mobile homeswere blown into mangled piles, some unrecognizable among thedebris.

“We are still trying to find out how many are unaccountedfor,” said Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ted Sexton. “There werepeople out there Christmas shopping and all. We just don’t knowwhere they are.”

Airport Delays

Meanwhile, heavy winds and freezing temperatures pounded the Midwest and West.

At airports across the country, stormy weather caused major delays and cancellations.

For the third time this week at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, United Airlines canceled flights. Today, it was 50 percent of them, stranding thousands of unhappy passengers.

“It’s just another day of hassles. I just don’t like it,” said one traveler.

“We get here, it says ‘on time.’ We’re excited,” said another. “We’re going to talk to somebody and they say go to a skycap, check in your bags. I’m there. I got my tickets and then ‘canceled.’ It’s so frustrating.”

Subzero Temperatures

Freezing rain and snow is falling in a number of states. But frigid temperatures are causing the most concern. In Fargo, North Dakota, residents were advised to stay indoors because of dangerously cold temperatures.

As many as six states are expected to feel wind chills ranging from 25 to 70 below zero.

In Omaha, Nebraska, high winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour caused poor visibility and near whiteout conditions. So far, this week’s storms are blamed for more than a dozen deaths. But meteorologists say this severe weather is not abnormal.

“The last couple of years have been very warm because of La Nina,” says Wes Junker of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. “This year has been much colder and looks like it will stay much colder for awhile, at least along the northern states.”

In Chicago, more than 16 inches of snow are already on the ground, but forecasters say the worst is yet to come with more freezing rain plunging temperatures and snow expected tonight.

Search for Survivors

In Alabama, National Guard troops sealed off the Tuscaloosa trailer park as rescue teamssearched the rubble for survivors. With power out, the search wenton in darkness.

Sexton said the Tuscaloosa tornado hit about 1 p.m. At least 30people had been reported injured Saturday night.

“It was roaring and the wind just blew. You didn’t know if youwere going to live or not,” said Myrtle Bowden, who took refuge ina bathroom with her husband, James.

Joe Hayes, 61, said he watched from his porch as the storm hit agrocery store under construction, then lift a small pickup truckand threw its occupants.

“I saw it coming all the way,” he said. Twelve people whojoined him huddled in his basement survived the storm, but Hayeslost his roof to the winds.

A tree near where Beverly Smith’s trailer had stood was filledwith orange insulation, the trailer had been blown off itsfoundation and into another tree. Smith, who had taken cover in thetrailer’s bathroom, was hospitalized with bruises, cuts and chestpains, said her brother, Kenny Thomas.

“It picked the trailer up,” he said. In nearby yards, the roofof a pickup truck was caved in. A photograph of a man, a woman anda child lay in a puddle.

Debris from homes and buildings was scattered along roads southof Tuscaloosa and was hanging from trees, many of them twisted andbroken.

Another Tornado

In the southern part of the state, another tornado hit justbefore noon, overturning cars and destroying homes, Geneva MayorWarren Beck said.

Geneva County Emergency Management Agency director, MargaretMixon, said eight people were injured, two of them severely. Fivehomes were destroyed and at least 20 others were damaged.

The tornado also damaged a textile mill and destroyed a peanutmill in neighboring Dale County. Dale County Commissioner BuddyStapleton said he counted about a half-dozen homes hit near Newton.

A tornado also swept through the northern part of the state,injuring 12 people and damaging about two dozen homes in the BallPlay and Coats Bend communities of Etowah County, deputy emergencymanagement director John Stoddard said.

There were no immediate injury reports from Limestone County,near the Alabama-Tennessee line, where eight homes were destroyedand trees and power lines were toppled by a tornado.

Alabama Power Co. officials said the storms, which also poundedthe state with hail early in the day, knocked out power to about43,000 customers, raising concerns because temperatures across thestate were expected to drop into the low 20s Saturday night.

Gov. Don Siegelman also activated the state emergency operationscenter to coordinate emergency response to the storms.

ABCNEWS’Liz Cho and The Associated Press contributed to this report.